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QA1 shocks

8K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  zteve06 
#1 ·
Alrite guys, this thread is for Mike the Admin and for anyone that has used the product. I just bought some double adjustable non-coilover QA1 shocks for my 2002 zo6. I was told they were completely bolt on but if i am missing something, they are not bolting directly up. The trouble i am having is with the car on jack stands under the cradle and not the a-arms. The bottom fork bracket that is supllied with the kit barely bolts into place. i was able to align it and mildly hammer the shock bolt to come out the other side to put the nut on, however the bracket is touching the end of the axle hub that goes into the back of the rotor. The top shock mounting bracket is already installed without problem, but when i screwed the bottom of the shock into the bottom bracket there is no way the top of the shock will align up to the upper bracket and is way off. Any ideas of what i am missing or doing wrong? I can send pics if that wld be helpful in diagnosing
 
#4 ·
Sorry that you're having troubles with installing the shocks. We would love to help you out. If you give our tech line a call at 800.721.7761 and have pictures available to send to the tech, we should be able to help figure out what's going on.

Thanks,
Dave Kass
QA1 Customer Service Manager
 
#6 ·
Thanks you guys. I am including a not so great pic, but indicated by the poorly drawn arrow, the bracket on the shock is or was hitting the axle hub. After racking my brain. i decided to jack the suspension to mock like it was on the ground with wheel on and i had plenty of play and there was space between the QA1 fork bracket and the hub. I just assumed that if thats the case, then it was just becuz the arm was just hanging in the air and not in its original position. I was worried becuz the OEM shock , even with hanging the air didnt touch the hub, but the bracket for the QA1 is way thicker than the OEM . Should be finishing uo the back today and dropping it to the ground and see where it stands. Mike, the adjusters for urs are facing outward or inward? Seems either way i go, i wld still have to take wheel off to adjust and what settings did u find it best just for street driving? as of rite now, i have one shock mounted with knobs on top but goin to try and do the other side with facing down and see if it makes a difference.
And a big thanks to Dave and Jake and QA1. I did call yesterday and talked with jake and hopefully by expalanation to him, he seemed i was rite in my thinking. Anyway, i will update later on.
 

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#7 ·
Mike, the adjusters for urs are facing outward or inward? Seems either way i go, i wld still have to take wheel off to adjust and what settings did u find it best just for street driving?
My 2002 is in storage at a different location right now so I'm afraid I can't run out and check it.

The last several years of drag racing I didn't mess with the settings since I trailered to the track and rarely drove on the street. Those settings (same as now) have the back end very soft and the front end fairly stiff. That allowed me to 'squat' off the line with the best traction (using Hoosier slicks)

Before that, when I was driving it daily and adjusting at the strip, I had the street settings (both front and back) fairly firm for handling purposes.

At the track I adjusted the settings by turning the front wheel and reaching around with my hand to click the adjuster. I honestly don't remember if they were facing outward or inward. It's been a while since I adjusted them, I'm afraid.

Mike
 
#8 ·
hey mike, thanks for the info, for it was def helpful. I havent started the front but plan on it today and will keep that in mind for the future at the track. Once i got the back done and let it down, the knobs on mine were facing outward and pretty easy to get to laying down and just doing the old reach around. I placed the knobs down just to see but they would have been in the way of getting a wrench to the top bracket bolts so it worked out.
If i may pick your brain, what other suspension stuff did you do to urs? DTE brace? etc? and what rpm were u dumping the clutch at? DiD u ever have major problems with spinning? Thanks again
 
#9 · (Edited)
If i may pick your brain, what other suspension stuff did you do to urs? DTE brace? etc? and what rpm were u dumping the clutch at? DiD u ever have major problems with spinning? Thanks again
First off, there's never been a Z06 produced that didn't have problems with wheel spin, whether the Z is bone stock or modified. :lol:

As for suspension, etc I have hardened half shafts (both) and a DTE brace. Originally had a tranny/diff brace on my manual and then bought another when I converted to a Turbo 400 tranny (both DTE). I am a big believer in the DTE tranny/diff brace and I think it has saved a lot of rear ends. Believe it or not, I have the original differential in the Z. It has done remarkably well with all the track passes, etc.

As far as 'clutch dumping', I never did that other than to experiment. Traction is the name of the game at the strip and (depending on suspension mods) dumping leads to spin, wheel hop or something breaking.

I released the clutch as quickly as possible but smoothly to give the tires a decent chance to grip. Almost like pulling away from a stop sign very quickly.

The rpm's I launched at varied over the years to the power level I was running at any given time. It really is a trial and error process to determine what rpm your car launches at the best (I would say the 4400-4900 rpm range worked best for me). The same goes with the QA1 shock adjustments.... I went through a number of different front/back combos until I found the settings that I liked.

My advice...go to the strip, totally disregard whoever lines up in the opposite lane, have a friend videotape your launches and using feedback from the video (as well as your own buttmeter), find the shock settings, tire pressure and launch rpm and technique that works for you.

ps, a quick word of warning...

If you use drag radials at the strip, be very careful of getting too good traction. Drag radials are sticky all right (after a proper burn out) but they have no 'sidewall flex' like real race tires have and they will cause you to break shafts (halfshafts or driveshaft) or other forms of damage.

I remember once several years ago, I loaned my BFG drag radials to a friend to run his Z06 at the strip. I went with him and repeatedly warned him not to dump the clutch. After he did it in the burn box, I even ran to his door before he launched and warned him again. The light went green, he dumped the clutch and 40 yards down the strip he sat with the engine revving and the car doing nowhere. That's what happens when you break a half shaft. :yeadog:

Mike
 
#10 ·
well, that is the truth. spins no matter what. That will be my next project being the DTE brace-people swear by them and i def dont wanna spend money on breakage if it can be prevented. I used to see them online for 349.00 but cant seem to find them for under 400.00 anymore. Any ideas or is that pretty much the running price? I have pretty much every thing else, hardened shafts, built rear gear and chunk w/ 4'10 gears so needless to say its goin to be a trial and error im sure with figuring out what works best. Before 4'10 gears i cld easily launch at 3000 with Drag radials at 16 psi with air temps of of around 76 degrees.

I do appreciate the advice on the drag radial set up. I would have never thought of that but makes perfect sense. I have sense went for the L5 fenders which requires a bigger tire of course so i am currently looking for a pair of used rims or new if i have to that will fill the fender well ,with by ur advice ,a set of slicks.

When u were at the track, did u unbolt ur sway bars?
 
#11 ·
You've already got them so I won't make a big deal about it but for others who might view this thread, I don't recommend 4.10 gears on an FI'd Z06.

Even with the oem rear end, first gear is very, very short and the 4.10 would make it even shorter. Second, it's very likely (depending on your power level) to cause one additional shift in a 1/4 mile run. That costs time and some top end mph. Lastly, if your pushing for low 10's or even 9's in the 1/4, you might not have the top end mph to get there with 4.10 gears.

As for your other questions, I haven't priced out the DTE braces in several years so I'm really not sure of todays cost.

Wheels and tires....check out CCW's drag package. It includes rear wheels and tires for the strip as well as skinnies for the front. Can't tell you how important skinnies are to keep your SC'd car on the track. As for the rears, I've used both the ET Streets and the Hoosiers and the I get far better traction with the Hoosiers. The down side is that the ET Streets can be driven to the track (they are barely street legal) and the Hoosiers are not.

My sway bars were removed years ago.

Mike
 
#12 ·
Yeah, i am a little frustrated with the speed shop that talked me into goin with the 4'10. He told me it wld wake the car up with which he didnt lie, but i have heard the same thing and traction is way worse. However until it breaks , im stuck with it for now. ugh.
Thanks again Mike for ur help. i will def look into that with the ccws.
 
#14 ·
I seen the settings they have foer the street and strip and can agree on the street set up but on the QA1 setup for the dragstrip, they reccomend using 4 or lower setting for back and front which doesnt make sense to me. I am still learning the concept of compression and rebound on the shocks but it seems to me < one would want low setting on the compression for the back and low on the rebound for the front but i havent been to the track yet without getting my DTE brace to test that theory. If u have a good understanding about the compression/rebound concept, i would love to learn more about it.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I seen the settings they have foer the street and strip and can agree on the street set up but on the QA1 setup for the dragstrip, they reccomend using it.
The right knob is rebound, and the left is compression dampning. The right knob controls the speed that the shock will "deploy" or extend, and the left controls how quickly it will retract. I haven't adjusted them a lot yet, but so far if you have the right knob too far to the right, then the car will "po-go", that is what you want at the strip but not the street, I have the right knob set at the middle right now, and the left about 2/3rds (Fronts). For the strip, I'd go 3/4 and 3/4 (front), and 1/3 and 1/3 (rear), but I have a softer springs on the rear---youll just have to play around with them.
edit-I also have the shock mount bearings, they increase traction some and affect handleing.
 
#15 · (Edited)
For drag racing mostly on good launch is being there is more weight ratio on front then rear you want on launch to shift the weight back onto the rear tire patches

By allowing rear to drop and front to raise that weight is shifted back ( like brake torquing)
Another help to shift that weight is remove 1 bolt of end link of front sway bar, that then removes the bar's effect and allows more front lift.

If adjustable shocks also being the left front has more weight due to the drivers weight you can adjust shock so bit more weight shift to right rear tire which has the least weight on tire

The race shocks I use not only uses it's internal oil pressure/flow but also has external nitrogen tanks so adjusting is more complex but allows more control

For drag racing I set so that the compression of shock is controlled by the amount of nitrogen pressure so I set the fronts to very soft and the rears stiffer so that the front weight shifts back then forces that weight down onto rear shocks with stiff compression so moves downward less on shock rod to put more direct weight shift onto tires.
The adjustor for nitrogen call it a fine tuner (low speed bleeder) and large compression changes with the adjustor of shock ( high speed bleeder)

For rebound I set the fronts firmer and rears softer
 
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